Daily Gold Update

Source: Marketwatch

San Francisco— Silver futures closed more than 5% higher Monday, leading a recovery in the precious-metals sector, and gold topped $1,500 an ounce, rebounding from last week�s decline as some weakness in the U.S. dollar and concerns over European debt woes lured investors back to metals. Silver futures for July delivery rose $1.83, or 5.2%, to settle at $37.12 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange after tapping a high of $37.98 overnight. The contract skidded $2.63, or 1%, on Friday to complete its worst week in more than three decades. The metal was still down 24% so far in May. June gold futures, meanwhile, rose $11.60, or 0.8%, to settle at $1,503.20 an ounce, extending Friday�s $10.20, or 0.7%, increase. Prices are still more than 3% lower in May.

�The gold success today is a nice reflection � a mirror image almost � of the dollar index failure today along the 75 fault line,� said Richard Hastings, a macro strategist at Global Hunter Securities. The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of six currencies, fell to 74.690 from 74.790 late Friday after Standard & Poor�s lowered its credit rating on Greece, reviving worries that peripheral euro-zone debt woes will force European officials to change the terms of bailouts. See full story.